


Conventional Behaviour

by berlynn_wohl



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-19
Updated: 2012-11-19
Packaged: 2017-11-19 01:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/567643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berlynn_wohl/pseuds/berlynn_wohl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This was not the first time that someone had drawn such a conclusion about his relationship with John, and it never failed to amuse him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conventional Behaviour

This is a fill for [a prompt on the kinkmeme](http://sherlockbbc-fic.livejournal.com/13188.html?thread=71998596#t71998596). “Sherlock likes that strangers think he and John are dating because then people will know that someone wants Sherlock and he's not a freak.” (Click on the link to read the full prompt.)

 

 

John patted all four pockets of his trousers, then felt the three pockets in his jacket before muttering, “Shit. Must have left my mobile in the lobby.” He reached for the shirt he’d just removed.

Sherlock sent the text he’d been composing, then pocketed his own mobile and walked to the door. “I’ll get it.”

“Will you?” John was unaccustomed to Sherlock performing even the simplest of favours.

“Like to get a newspaper anyway.” Sherlock checked his watch. “Morning edition’s probably arrived by now.”

John thanked him and heaved a sigh of relief. Once Sherlock had gone out the door, he finished undressing and got in bed, hoping for a few hours’ sleep before it was time to track down that anaesthesiologist that Sherlock was suspicious of.

Sherlock approached the desk clerk with a paper tucked under his arm and said, “Someone was just down here and left his mobile, has it been turned in?” Sherlock went on to describe the model, color, and distinctive surface imperfections of the device.

The clerk opened the drawer beneath her keyboard and brought it out. “I saw the two of you check in together.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “I must say, you’ve got a very cute bo—oh, I’m sorry, is he your boyfriend or husband?”

This was not the first time that someone had drawn such a conclusion about his relationship with John, and it never failed to amuse him. He knew that ordinary people, when they spotted two odd individuals who could be romantically involved, couldn’t help speculating on what their odd sex life must be like. And Sherlock was well aware that people perceived John and himself as odd.

So if this ordinary desk clerk had believed that the two of them were romantically involved, her mind must have flitted, however briefly, to the assumption that John liked Sherlock enough that he wanted to be _inside_ Sherlock’s body, and having done this, leave some of his genetic material behind, which was a fruitless effort with two people of the same sex but which Sherlock understood retained a symbolic significance.

And even ordinary as she was, she had to have enough intelligence to perceive that John enjoyed sex and spent much of his time in the pursuit of it. She must therefore have concluded that he and John had a lot of sex, because otherwise why would John consider Sherlock worth having for a lover? Perhaps she had formed a mental image of Sherlock on his hands and knees on the hotel bed, being serviced by John from behind, and had decided in her mind that that sort of thing was a regular occurrence.

There was also all sorts of other conventional behaviours in romantic relationships that they might engage in, in this woman’s mind. Perhaps they had given each other little nicknames, or spoke to each other in syrupy tones when no one else was about. If Sherlock felt ill, John would look after him. If Sherlock did or said something upsetting, John might leave the flat for a bit, but he would soon return, and demonstrate his forgiveness physically.

It may have occurred to her that he and John now must possess stronger immune systems, because they had spent so long sharing each other’s germs. Having done things like putting Sherlock’s penis in his mouth, John would certainly have no objection to drinking out of a container that Sherlock had already drunk from, or using the same straw. And those two things you could do in public, in full view of strangers, and make your relationship status as clear as if you had put their penis in your mouth in front of everyone.

 _That_ was the important thing. That everyone _knew_. Sherlock decided that the next time John was enjoying a beverage in public, he would drink from it himself, perhaps when John was looking the other way for a moment. Then people would know that Sherlock was a desirable human being who happened to have some endearing quirks, not a freak who would die alone having systematically alienated every single human being he had ever encountered.

In the meantime, Sherlock held out his hand, palm up, for the clerk to place the mobile into. “ _Partner_ is an appropriate term to employ, when one is not certain of the legal status,” he said. He then bid her good morning and headed for the elevator.


End file.
